Russian currency crisis may affect Miami’s foreign buyers

The economic crisis in Russia reportedly has the potential to impact Russian buyers in Miami due to imposed economic sanctions and the fall in the price of oil.

The exchange rate from rubles to dollars makes properties twice as expensive for Russian buyers and current condo owners, according to published reports. At the beginning of 2014, $1 bought 33 rubles, and today, $1 buys about 55 rubles.

Anita Funtek, a broker at the Boscolo Realty and CEO of the Miami New Construction Show, told Miami Today that the economic situation is helping many Russians make a faster decision on whether to buy.

“Their buying power is definitely shrinking as the ruble is falling, but as they have doubts in the future of the Russian economy, their motivation is higher to place their savings to a more secure country,” she told the newspaper. [Miami Today] — Katherine Kallergis